Richard Riley Award
Community Learning Centers for the 21st Century
Presented by:
Winton Hills Academy
School Demographics
- Location: Cincinnati, OH
- Community Type: Urban
- School Population: 437
- Grade Range: preK-8
- Free/Reduced Lunch: 93%
- School District: Cincinnati Public Schools
- School District Population: 36,000
Winton Hills Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio is small K-8 public elementary school with 437 students that reflects the new commitment of the Cincinnati Public School system to develop joint-use facilities as part of its $1 billion master facilities plan. The Cincinnati-based KnowledgeWorks Foundation has been a national leader in developing and promoting joint-use and schools as centers of community and actively supported the Winton Hills Academy community engagement process
Launched in 2006-07, Winton Hills Academy is among the first of 9 pilot sites designed to ensure that a wide array of other community resources from mental health services to after school programs could be located on-site in the school and managed by a full-time Resource Coordinator. The school building was designed and constructed for $10 million as part of the Cincinnati Public Schools Facility Master Plan. Pursuant to the Ohio School Facilities Commission mandate, the facility received 23% co-funding from the State of Ohio. The promise by the school district that new schools would be used as community learning centers and open longer was cited as the primary reason for the passage of the bond levy which enabled the financing of the new school construction.
The property on which the school is sited is in the center of the neighborhood, with the Recreation Center next door, the Winton Hills Medical Center and the two community churches across the street. Geographically and visually, the school was designed to be the hub for the community, with the nearby facilities as part of the community learning center campus. Children, their families and the community are able to walk to the building easily and the building was designed to be inviting, accessible and attractive as a public gathering place.
Design Integrates Community Partners
The layout of the academic space is in pods with four classrooms clustered around an extended learning area (ELA) to create smaller learning communities and to promote teacher collaboration. Each pod has its own identifying color to give children ownership and pride in their community. This design has produced intimate learning environments which have contributed to improved academic achievement and a rise in the State‘s academic ranking.
At the center of the community is a spine housing two courtyards flanked by the shared functions of the art room, media center and music room. The spine is the singular organizing element of the pods and provides a separation between the younger children and the middle school students. This separation ensures a more manageable and nurturing learning environment for the younger children who seek security and the older children who thrive on connectedness. Behavioral problems have been dramatically reduced since the move into the new school facility.
Community partners are fully integrated into the school day with private, dedicated offices embedded within the school as well as dedicated spaces for tutors and volunteers. There is dedicated office space for the Cincinnati Public Health Nurse and Winton Hills Medical Center coordinator, the mental health therapists, the After School coordinator and staff, and the YMCA resource coordinator. By living together in shared space, the school and community personnel share experiences which lead them to a common understanding of the issues concerning the students, their families, and the neighborhood and the development of collaborative responses through joint programming.
For example, since the school is located in a neighborhood which is wholly owned by the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), a partnership was developed with CMHA to move their small child care program from a nearby apartment into the school facility and to develop additional resources to expand their capacity and improve program quality. This partnership has since been transferred to the YMCA which pro